The Thing in the Forest
by Juliet's Shadow
Summary: Project Colonization sends 18 years olds into the middle of nowhere with no support, expecting them to make their own life. Finnick finds himself trapped on an island with Katniss, Peeta, Johanna, Gale and Annie, the girl who stole his heart in a matter of days. Still, something lurks in the forest they cannot control, and it plans on killing every one of them. Modern Day AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I suck I know, publishing a new story while I have so many others going on, but this has been _one_ of my pet projects over the summer and I couldn't let senior year start without me publishing it. I promise my other stories will be finished! Graceland is currently undergoing some revisions before the next chapter update, but I thought I could go ahead and publish this, so hopefully you all won't want to make my cannon go off? Please? Maybe? **

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**_Day Zero: November 1st_**

**_Finnick Odair_**_, _

_ We (the Project Colonization Application Committee) have reviewed your application for a position in Project Colonization. After careful consideration and looking over every factor we have decided to accept your application for the position. _

_ On November 1st please be ready to leave your current residence at 9:00 am. A bus consisting of other accepted members of Project Colonization (though not necessarily members of your colony) will take you to the airport where you will be flown to Project Colonization Headquarters. Do not bring anything with you as this will effect the results of the experiment._

_ Your family will receive compensation for your absence, a $250,000 annual allowance that your family will be able to spend as they choose. Your needs will be taken care of as Project Colonization sees fit._

_ If you choose to withdraw from the project, do so by October 15th so Project Colonization has time to find a replacement to fill your role in your colony. _

_ The information on the following page contains information specific to your colony. Remember: the size of colonies range from six to twenty-four people, depending on the predicted success and other factors that make up the colony. You will know no one from your colony ahead of time and receive no contact information. Last names of Colony members will not be provided for to prevent contact before scheduled arrival date. _

_ -Coriolanus Snow, President of Project Colonization_

I take a deep breath. This is really happening. Tomorrow I leave this city for good and go to who knows where with a bunch of strangers where I am expected to live out the rest of my life, simply to see if life at this location is even possible. Why am I doing this? The money. The money would keep my family well off as long as I stay where I am supposed to. I plan on doing so. Mom, Dad, Eloise and Daisy need the money to get out of this poverty slum. I told them I would be gone a year, not the rest of my life. They'll figure it out, I suppose. I flip over to the second page of the paper where the information is.

_ID Number: _**_04-01-258133-01_**

_Colony: _**_Yellow Haven Reef Colony _**

_Colony Members (In Alphabetical Order by First Name. ID numbers will be put beside the names for identification purposes upon arrival date):_

**_Annie 04-02-258133-02_**

**_Finnick 04-01-258133-01_**

**_Gale 12-04-258133-01_**

**_Johanna 07-05-258133-02_**

**_Katniss 12-06-258133-02_**

**_Peeta_****_12-03-258133-01_**

_Colony Size: _**_Small_**

_Colony ID: _**_258133_**

_Colony Climate: _**_Tropical_**

_Additional Information: _**_No additional information is available for the Yellow Island Reef Colony_**

No additional information. For most, that would be terrifying. I found it to be an adventure. Knowing the names of the other members of the colony helped as well. After asking what the ID numbers meant and how they were processed (the first two digits being randomized on a scale of 1-15, the second two digits being the order the members joined Project Colonization, the third section being the Colony ID and the last section being gender, 01 for male and 02 for female) I determined we had an even split of males and females. I know that was probably purposeful, to make sure everyone would be paired up, but it made me happy to know I could still potentially have a happy future, even if I was limited to Annie, Johanna or Katniss. All of us would have to be 18 years old by the time we left. Only eighteen year olds could apply for this, as to make sure everyone was in the same age group. A bunch of eighteen year olds being sent out into the most remote and possibly dangerous parts of the world simply to see if other humans could survive there... sounds about right.

There was a third page stapled onto the letter I had received. This was the part that made the the most excited: my application. The application asked all sorts of questions as to make sure I would get along with the people I would be paired with, but was also filled with different questions concerning my skills as to make sure I was put in the proper environment. Leave the world I know behind and go into the unknown? I was excited. I was always challenging myself to climb higher, swim farther and simply do better than others that I knew. I was the best swimmer I knew and I excelled at fishing. A reef sounds like the perfect place to try out all my skills. The best part about this is still the money. I would never have signed up if my family didn't receive as much money as they will.

I lay in my bed staring up at my ceiling for the very last time and find myself drifting off into a light sleep, only to be awoken, what seemed like moments later, by my younger sisters, Eloise and Daisy. It was 8:30am and they were tackling me with hugs and my parents were standing at the doorframe. Mom looked like she was crying. She thinks I'm only going to be away a year. I can't bear to tell her I will never return. "Hey, don't cry, mom. I'll be fine."

She nods her head. "I know. I just love you, Finnick. Don't forget that."

I smile and kiss her forehead. "I could never, mom."

I say the rest of the goodbyes to my family, telling everyone I love them, when I hear the bus honk outside the house. "That's my ride."

I get on the bus and look longingly out the window. The only thing I have with me is my letter. I had been given several letters and phone calls instructing me to leave _everything _behind and bring the letter with all the information on it.

The bus is small, containing four rows with an aisle, pushing two chairs onto either side of the aisle. Despite the bus being small, nearly every seat was filled. Eighteen year olds across the country signed up for this, many of whom fantasizing a better life for them or their family. I saw an open chair at the front though, next to a well built guy with brown hair and gray eyes. "This seat taken?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. Feel free to take it, dude. I think we only have a couple more stops after this."

I nodded before holding out my hand. "Finnick Odair," I introduced. The guy nodded, but looked down at his paper, sitting slightly crumpled in his lap.

"Gale Hawthorne. You aren't the same Finnick who is going to Yellow Haven Reef Colony, are you?" he asked.

I nodded. "That's me. I take it you are the same Gale, huh?"

He smiled. "Looks like it. Well it's nice to meet one of the guys I'm going to be hanging out with for probably the rest of my life."

"Back at ya," I said. I liked Gale, so far. He seemed lie he could have a good time but there was an undeniable seriousness in his eyes. He seemed pretty chill now, but I could also tell he wanted to get things done. "So what made you sign up to join Project Colony?"

He shrugged. "My dad died when I was fourteen. I've been helping provide for my mom, two younger brothers and younger sister ever since. Posy, my sister, just turned four. I want them to have a good life, even if that means mine will be harder."

I nod. "My mom has cancer. The payment can cost quite a bit, and I want her to be okay, so I joined this. The extra money will help out my dad and younger sisters, I'm sure."

The bus made two more stops, picking up a thin redheaded girl and an intimidating looking blonde guy, before making our way to the plane. Fortunately, the plane ride was short, only an hour or so. We had arrived at Project Colonization Head Quarters before we knew it. A worker said colonies were in alphabetical order, and we were to find them and stand beneath the sign assigned to that colony, keeping our papers close so they could be inspected at a moment's notice.

Because they were in alphabetical order, Gale and I made our way to the end of the line. Sure enough, the last colony was the 'Yellow Haven Reef Colony.' The sign was, appropriately, a bright yellow color. Underneath the sign was a girl with brown hair and Taylor Swift bangs going across her forehead. In her hand, she nervously grasped her papers. She was five foot four or so with legs she covered with a pair of strategically ripped skinny jeans, cuffed so they show her ankles. She wore a blue and white striped shirt and a pair of white converse with a red rubber stripe. When she saw Gale and I approaching, her nervous look immediately softened into a more friendly one. "Yellow Haven, right?" I nodded, as did Gale. "Thank goodness! I was the only one here and it was starting to worry me. I mean, what if no one else showed up?" She took a deep breath, as if to reassure herself before holding her right hand out between us. "I'm Annie."

I looked at her hand, and took it in first thing I noticed was how little her hands themselves were, but her fingers were long, like a piano players. Her wrists were very easily bird wrists. The ball like bone on her wrist was very prominent and behind the bone was a circular scar that looked like a burn. "I'm Finnick. It's nice to meet you."

Annie relinquished my hand and held her hand out for Gale to shake. "So I guess we are going to be living together, huh?"

"Guess so," Gale said. The thought was still foreign to me and though I knew this was really happening, it felt like a dream.

We waited under that sign for another two hours before the last four planes flew in. The first plane that landed, and off came Peeta. He had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes and a muscular build, like he would easily be able to carry large weights on his back.

The second plane had no one from our colony, as did the third. That meant the final plane would have to hold both Johanna and Katniss. Sure enough, the fourth plane landed and two girls made their way over to us, separately. They probably didn't meet on the plane. The two girls, though, had the exact same fiery look in their eyes. They were here to get shit done, not play around. "Yellow Haven?" one of them asked. We all nodded. "Good! I was getting sick of that plane. I was on there for eight hours! All they gave me to eat was a fucking ham and cheese sandwich and a side of peanuts with a plane sized cup of water. I'm starving!" We were all taken aback by this. She plopped herself down on the floor next to where Annie was currently sitting, back against the wall, and let out a sigh. "I'm Johanna by the way."

Katniss' entrance was much less dramatic. She looked all of us over and kept quiet, only muttering the words, "My name is Katniss," as quiet as she could audibly be.

Gale gave her a weird look, though. "Catnip? Well that is an interesting name." I laughed, as did Annie and Peeta. Katniss gave Gale a death glare, though.

"Katniss. Not Catnip. You should know that. It's on your paper." That did not relinquish the nickname. Instead, it just made the name stick.

Groups started to get called back into this conference room. Another two hours battling boredom passed before our group, the last group was called back. Inside the conference room was a large table that could fit thirty or more people, if need be, six manilla folders that were set out at empty seats, and a group of six people sitting at one end of the table, large binders opened to a yellow tab at the back. We shuffled in and found ourselves sitting in front of the folders, each one was marked with our name on the tab.

"Yellow Haven Reef Colony, identification number 258133, meeting is called to order." There was a man a few seats down from where I was with a recorder and a legal pad opened a few seats away from where I was. I guessed he was the secretary.

"Good, good." At the end of the table sat an older man with white hair and beard. He wore a suit with a white rose in it and he looked at us each with snake-like blue eyes. "I'm Mr. Snow, President of Project Colonization. I would like to thank you up front for joining our little experiment. If you will open your folders, you will find a file with different positions you have been assigned for. There are six basic positions in our Colonies that we have made sure are filled: leader, healer, teacher, hunter, gatherer, engineer. We have looked at all the profiles and have determined which of you will best fill these roles. Most of our colonies are bigger than six people, meaning there is usually multiple people in each role. Here, you guys are on your own."

I opened my folder and looked at the first page.

_Name: _**_Finnick Odair_**

_Position: _**_Leader_**

_Colony: _**_Yellow Haven Reef Colony_**

_Success Rate Prediction: _**_87% Success Rate_**

I look up from the paper. "Sir, there must be a mistake," I found myself saying. "My position-"

He cut me off. "Leader. Not a mistake, Finnick. We have carefully looked at every one of you. You will be the assigned leader, Peeta be the assigned healer, Annie the assigned teacher, Katniss the assigned hunter, Johanna the assigned gatherer and Gale the assigned engineer."

Johanna was the one who spoke up next. "What do you mean assigned?"

Mr. Snow looked at Johanna. "We have assigned you to these roles. What goes on at the actual colony is your business, but as of right now, these are your current positions."

Annie was the next one to protest. "Sir, why am I a teacher? Who would need to be schooled, first of all, since there are no kids, and secondly, I failed, like, three classes last six weeks and I failed the final of the class I did pass. I mean, I passed all my classes for the semester, but I'm not cut out for teaching."

"Your application included a likes and dislikes section. Your likes included reading and writing, so naturally we picked you for that position. Also, because you are starting a colony, a new civilization, you will be expected to procreate. Children will arrive for you to teach, Ms. Annie." he said. Annie paled at this. I cannot blame her. The thought of our entire future being said as if it was a simple business meeting was terrifying. The fact that a colony, a civilization rested on us, a bunch of eighteen year olds, even scarier. He looked around at the others. "Any other questions?"

Peeta raised his hand. "Yes, I have two. The first is we are expected to find our own food here? I assumed we would receive imports. My second question is I have never in my life trained as a doctor. How am I expected to be a healer?"

This time, a silver haired woman with a strictly business look. "Alma Coin, Vice President, and in charge of organizing healers. In answer to your first question, Peeta, you are expected to export items to receive import. It is between the six of you what will be imported and exported. We have provided enough to last you your first six months. In response to your second question, Peeta, you will receive training in basic First Aid and CPR as well as a book on things you can do when a situation presents itself, but if any major accident occurs and anything you cannot handle happens, call us and we will provide assistance. We could also give online training, if that is required."

No one said anything else. Gale was looking intently at his file, flipping through the pages, seeing what information we currently had. He looked to be more adequate at a leader position than myself. To be honest, I probably received the leader position by default. The only other position I could ever do would be the hunter position. I looked at Katniss, who was giving President Snow a death glare, trying to see how she could be an incredible hunter. I flipped through a couple of pages in my folder, seeing the applications of everyone in our colony. Katniss was the fifth application in my folder. The applications we filled out had information that would be pertinent to placing us, but there were also incredibly random questions like our favorite music and television shows. Probably to get a feel on our personalities.

_Name: _**_Katniss Everdeen_**

_Birthday: _**_May 8th_**

_Age: _**_18_**

_Likes: _**_Hunting, woods, archery, hanging out with people I am close to_**

_Dislikes: _**_Bad injuries, nakedness, bad burns, oppression_**

_Skills: _**_Archery_**

_Favorite Music: _**_Green Day, Muse, Linkin Park_**

_Favorite Television Shows: _**_Survivor, Man vs. Wild, Fear Factor, most hunting shows and similar shows. _**

Suddenly the hunting did not seem like a bad option for this girl. Actually, she seemed the most qualified. "If you will turn to the second page in your folder, you will find a map of the colony," this time a balding man with glasses spoke. "Yellow Haven Reef is predicted to be one of our most successful colonies. You will be inhabiting a tropical island. That is very fortunate. We have some colonies being sent out into tundra and desert. Your island is large, ten miles and fourteen miles at its largest dimensions. The island is very circular and in the middle of the island there is a small sized fresh water lake. The start up location for the colony is here, so there will be easy access to food and water. We have provided a two story, six bedroom, three bathroom house which includes a living room, sunroom, entry way and kitchen. There are currently nine beds in the house, so we will not expect you to have housing issues for some time. There will be a dock that goes into the lake, as well as a boat and two SeaDoo's. We have provided all this in order to help you be successful. Because there is only one house, we expect you all to live together." The man stopped speaking and we just sat there and stared. This was all happening really fast. "Johanna, you will be provided with a book of tropical plants and their uses. We expect you to be able to find some of these plants in the area where you are going to be living. Katniss, you will be given a similar book about game in the area. Because we haven't explored the area among basics, we have very little idea of what actually resides there, but we do not expect it to be too much of a problem."

The rest of the meeting concluded with Snow telling us some final information, like how we got to decide how the government in our colony was run, but the ultimate government was run by Project Colonization. We would be required to answer to them. I didn't see an issue there.

Project Colonization had started my parents generation and had been known for sending out expeditions like this. These colonies had improved the nations economy by allowing imports come through these small private countries all started by Project Colonization. Project Colonization would exchange goods from the colonies with goods from the rest of the country. The goods imported from the colonies were sold to the government at a fraction of the cost from importing from other countries. It was a great plan. There was one simple change this time. The people sent to colonies were required to stay. It used to be someone would only have to commit for a year at a time. Now it was a lifetime, or not at all. Still, the money my family would be getting would be amazing. It makes this worth it.

We walked out of the meeting room with instructions to wait for our plane. We would be shipped out with three other groups and we would be the second stop. After another hours of waiting, our plane arrived. We were loaded on and blocked off into three sections. We were the smallest colony on the plane, having only two rows, six seats, blocked off. I found myself sitting in the middle seat, Annie on my right side, sitting by the window, Gale on my left, sitting on the aisle. Behind me sat a scowling Katniss, with Peeta sitting window and Johanna sitting aisle. At last, we were off.

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**Thus concludes the first chapter! I hope y'all liked it! Please leave a review! That will make me want to not only update this story faster, but my other ones as well! Goodnight lovelies! **

**-Juliet**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my goodness guys! 10 reviews already! Wow! Well please keep it up and it'll inspire me to write and update faster :) I'll try to update this story as often as possible, as well as my other ones, and I'm hopefully going to be able to add time to do so (I'm hoping three nights a week devoted to writing) so fingers crossed! The house they live in is inspired by my actual lake house (the place where Graceland and this story came to me) Hopefully I can sneak down there and get some pictures of it for you all, so you can visualize it :) Well, next chapter! :D**

_LivLuvHG7273: First reviewer! Hight five! I'm very glad you like it! I'm excited for this story and the journey it's going to take us all on! I'm glad it makes up for my crappy updating on Graceland... I'm super glad you like it!_

_Angelfire: Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you like the story! Well, we're about to see what happens next and this story is me having fun in Odesta land! They are my OTP! _

_ .mar.83: Hello life saving reviewer! Thank you for pointing out my mistake! Totally accidental! I'm glad you like the story!_

_MeaganOneDirection: Yup I did! Thank for being one of the first people to read it! :D Here is the next chapter! _

_isamags2: I'm glad you like the idea! As of right now, the story is completely from Finnick's POV, but I'm not sure it'll remain that way. I'm sure we'll see some other characters perspectives as well. :) I'm really glad you like this story, as well as all my other ones! I'm so glad I made you happy! You make me happy :D_

_CusCus81: I super duper love you loads! Odesta is my favorite too! (Odesta is bae! Sorry, I say things like that in real life...) I'm glad you like it! _

_LetTheArrowFly: I'm glad you like it! Here is a speedy update, though I cannot promise they all will be..._

_Captain-Sherlock-Who: You are so sweet! I'm so glad you like it! :D _

_yellow 14: Hey... don't I know you from somewhere? Buzz... buzz... :D I'm super glad you are reading this and that you like this! That means a lot! :) I'm glad you like it! _

_Billie rue Smurf: I'm so glad you like it! Don't explode... here's an update!_

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**_Day One: November 2nd_**

"Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for landing on Yellow Haven Reef," a voice over the intercom said. At last, after another eight hours of flying, we are finally landing. New life is about to begin.

Annie, next to me, looks pale. "Are you okay?" I ask her. She nods.

"I- I think so. If not, I will be." I could tell she wasn't. She was breathing heavily and obviously on the verge of a panic attack.

I realize I don't know her very well, hardly at all, but I know I will get to know her. There is about a 33.3 percent chance she is the girl I end up with, if nothing complicates things. I decide to be bold and put an arm over her shoulders and bring her in for a hug. At that moment, a flight attendant is walking down the aisle, getting ready to take their seat. I raise my hand and she turns to look at me. "Can we get a bottle of water over here, please?"

She takes a look over at Annie, who is hyperventilating and on the verge of tears. "Of course." She walks off and comes back with a bottle of water. Gale is sitting beside me, unsure of what to do about the situation. He just keeps watching.

She takes a few sips of water before taking in shaky breaths, trying to calm herself down. Tears don't stop rolling down her face, but she stops hyperventilating, for the most part. "So-sorry. I sometimes have these ra-random anxiety attacks. They don't happen very often, not often enough for me to need medication or anything, but they happen."

I take my arm away from her shoulders and give her a smile. "It's alright. Everyone has their quirks."

She gives me a small smile. She is still trying to calm down, obviously still shaky from the whole experience. "Quirks? That's a nice way to put it." By that point we have started the actual descent and I can feel my grip on the armrest tighten. "Afraid of flying?"

I shake my head. "I just hate the landing."

She takes a deep breath and gives me a small smile. She no longer has tears running down her face. The attack was over. I'm glad for that much. "I think the landing is the best part. It's easiest to feel like I'm floating then." She puts a positive spin on the worst part of a flight. That's a miracle in itself.

Soon we touch the ground. I never felt like I was floating, but I didn't feel flat out uncomfortable, which is an improvement. The plan stops and I see we have landed on a beach. "We have arrived at Yellow Haven Reef Colony, ID number 258133, colony size six." The other colony that was still on the plane consisted of twenty-four people on their way to a desert colony. From the death glares we were getting I could tell they were jealous. I decided to shake it off. I would never see these people again.

When we had gotten off the plane, we were provided with six new cell phones, all iPhone 5c, each in a different color. They were already filled with different information, so we had no say in our color choices. Katniss ended up with green, Annie blue, Peeta yellow, Johanna pink and Gale and myself white, so there were no complaints, except from Johanna. There was really nothing we could do about that. "This will be your communication with the outside world," said the lady who was our flight attendant just moments ago. "It is filled with the contacts you need: the numbers of the different members of the Project Colonization board and the numbers for one another. You will not be permitted to make any phone calls home at this time. There is an app with a rough layout of the current colony. For this colony, I believe, the map contains a lake and the outline of the island. As a gift, the committee has downloaded music onto your iPods based on the interests you put on your application." We were all too stunned to speak. Again, everything was happening incredibly fast. The woman bid us farewell and soon, the plane had taken off once again.

"Well, looks like we are stuck here," Johanna said.

Peeta looked at his phone's map and looks around at where we were. "Looks like we can get directly to the house if we just go straight into the forest."

Katniss crossed her arms. "Directly into the forest? Do we know what's in there?"

Gale shook his head. "We don't, but now is a good time to find out." With that, we headed into the forest.

It looked like a dream here. The island had undisturbed trees, beautiful tropical flowers and animals looking at us through hiding spots, as if they had never seen people before. Most of them probably haven't. I heard Johanna let out a huffy sigh. "I have to learn what the hell all these plants are?"

Katniss, on the other hand, was giving a small smile. "Hunting should be pretty easy, for the most part. The animals are unafraid of humans, since they have never seen one."

Gale was also looking around intently. "I could make some excellent snares to use here."

Katniss nodded. "A snares man? Impressive."

Peeta continued to walk forward according to the map on his phone and Annie and I followed behind him. After about an hour of walking, we came across the lake. The climate suddenly changed from Tropical Rainforest to what looked like East Texas. I have no idea what caused the shift, or how the shift even came to be, but it was there. Standing in front the lake was a two story house that was very appealing to look at. Peeta opened the door and flipped on the light. I was pleasantly surprised.

There was a small hall with an alcove for an entry way. To the left was a closet underneath a staircase. The house opened up and there was a medium sized kitchen and a large living room. There was a door that led into a completely furnished master bedroom, with another bedroom connecting to that one. On the opposite side of the living room was a door that lead to a sunroom. The sunroom contained a chest freezer, second fridge, a washer and a dryer. Clean clothes would be taken care of. Thank goodness. Across from the kitchen was a staircase that led to a hallway that contained nothing but bedrooms and bathrooms. There was a green bedroom with a queen sized bed and a blue bedroom with a queen sized bed on the right, a room containing just a toilet and sink, a room containing just a bathtub, and an actual bathroom containing a shower, sink and toilet on the left, as well as a second green bedroom with a pair of twin beds. At the end of the hall there was this fantastic room containing three beds, two couches and a television. The room looked like a second sunroom, for all the windows it had. The view was a perfect one of the lake, where a backyard with a patio, deck, outdoor dining area, which included and outdoor fireplace, and a dock with a fishing house were. All six of us were taken aback by this sight. "Wow," said Annie, breaking the silence. "I cannot believe we live here."

The rest of us nodded. Peeta was the first to go back downstairs. "I'm sure we can figure out sleeping arrangements later," he started, "but I'm sure everyone is hungry. Come on, I'll cook. We can have the first official meeting of our colony, or whatever."

Dinner was cheeseburgers, and it was, quite simply, the best hamburger I had ever had. "Peeta, you are a hell of a chef!" I said.

"Thanks..." Peeta was modest about his skills, ducking his head to avoid attention. In the mean time, the rest of us were eating these burgers in awe.

"Fuck the ham and cheese sandwich. That was shit! This is Jesus on a bun, Peeta!" Johanna was probably enjoying herself the most.

Once we had eaten, and Peeta made a cake from scratch (bless him) we started our first meeting, simply so we had something to do while the cake baked. The girls found themselves cramming onto the couch in the living room, while I took one of the two armchairs. Gale took the other one and Peeta sat on the footrest matching my armchair. There was one of the biggest televisions I had ever seen in here, but we kept it off for the time being, promising to turn it on and watch a movie while we ate cake.

We tried to talk business, but we were quickly distracted. It became apparent that business would happen later. A game of "Never Have I Ever" began and the game ended with us figuring out Annie and Peeta were tied for the biggest prude, both never having sex, drinking or doing drugs or tobacco of any kind. "Never have I ever been pulled over while missing an article of clothing," Peeta said, obviously joking around.

Annie blushed and looked down at her hands and lowered her last finger. We were all shocked. "I was playing the Yellow Light Game, which is a stripping game you play in a car, and my friend and I were both in the backseat topless. I mean we had our bras on, we never took off bras or underwear, but still, we were topless in the backseat and the driver was going a hundred and eleven miles per hour. We managed to get our shirts on before the cop saw, but my shirt was backwards and hers was inside out."

"Annie, you slut!" Johanna yelled and lightly punched the side of her arm. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Umm, thanks?" she laughed. "I guess Peeta wins the game," she said.

Johanna responded with a wink. "Depends how you look at it. From my perspective, he lost." Johanna had been the first one out.

The cake came out of the oven shortly after and Peeta iced it and we all enjoyed a slice, watching an episode of Doctor Who on Netflix, since Johanna and Gale had never seen the show and the rest of us had different levels of obsession with it, before going off on our separate ways. Peeta, Katniss and Johanna all stayed in the living room, watching more Doctor Who, Gale went upstairs to go shower and go to bed and Annie grabbed a book off the bookshelf to the side of the television and went outside to the dock. I followed her.

Though I knew the dock had to be newly built, it looked worn. It was obvious the pieces used to create the dock were recycled from other places. This didn't make me mad, though. Opposite, really. I was ecstatic. The dock reminded me a little bit of home. I watched Annie from a distance as she put her book on a chair, went into the Fishing House, a little room built onto the dock that housed fishing poles, lures and other types of material, and saw her come out with a fishing pole, net, bait bucket and handful of what looked like dog food. She then threw the dog food into the water and started putting the net in the black depths, presumably to catch bait. "Need help?" I asked as I walked up over to her.

She shook her head. "I think I'm good, for now. My uncle loved to fish. He taught my brothers and I how to, though my brothers were better at it than I was. I wasn't even able to bait my own hook until I was seventeen. Even then, I could only use minnows and stink bait. I hate using worms."

I give her a small smile. "Well, I could bait worms for you."

She smiled back. "I'd like that," she said. "You know, I was the only girl in my family. I had a twin brother who was younger than me by seventeen minutes. His name was Jeremiah. Then there were the twins that were younger than us, the identical ones, Ian and Scott. They will be turning seventeen soon."

Hearing her talk was like music. Her voice was easily heard over the waves hitting the dock. It was loud, but not unpleasant or obnoxious. This was her real voice, not the false whisper she used on the airplane. "You talk about them really fondly. Why did you sign up for this, Annie?"

She grabbed a minnow out of the bait bucket and stuck it with the hook, right beneath the dorsal fin. "My parents made both me and Jeremiah apply. They're going to make Ian and Scott do the same. They'll make a million bucks a year, just by getting rid of their kids."

"That sucks," I say. "I signed up because my family is running out of money. Mom had cancer. They think I'll be gone for a year, not my entire life. I don't even want to think about what'll happen when they realize I'm not coming back."

Annie and I stood leaning against the dock in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was a fisherman's silence. Your focusing on your pole, willing a fish to bite the bait, but at the same time you are pondering everything in your life. It doesn't take long for Annie to get a bite. Her pole started shaking and she jerked up hard, setting the hook. When she pulled the fish out of the water, she realized she had landed a catfish. It was shrimpy, not big enough to eat, but that didn't matter. There is always a thrill that comes from catching a fish. I had placed my pole in one of the six holders on the dock, on my way to help her remove the hook from the fish's mouth, when my pole started to do the same thing. I pulled up on the pole and reeled in the fish. It was another catfish, but this time it was big enough to eat. "Maybe fish could be one of our exports," Annie laughed. She was joking, I could tell, but it didn't seem like a bad idea.

"I'm going to set up a stringer, Annie." A stringer is where a fisherman puts a rope into a fishes mouth and strings it until it comes out the gill. You leave the fish there until you're ready to cut them into fillets. It made me smile when Annie released her catfish and saw her run into the little room and come out with a rope with a little metal rod on the end. The metal rod always made stringing fish easier.

Thirteen catfish, a gasper-goo and the biggest carp I had ever seen later, the fish stopped biting and Annie was curled up on the chair, reading her book and manning the inactive fishing poles, and I was skinning the six fish that were big enough to keep: five catfish and the gasper-goo. Annie had just released her carp, which she named Elmer, because carp were not good eating. "What are you reading?"

She looked up from the book. "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I'm about to start chapter three. Why?"

"You just looked incredibly captivated. Is it that good?"

She shrugged. "I like it. It's very different than what I usually read, but the books I usually read are not here. Maybe I can catch enough fish to ask for an import of books."

I nod. "I think that would be a fair trade. I doubt we will ever need to ask for food, outside of basic ingredients like milk, eggs, flour and stuff like that. We have meat and fruits here." I threw the head of the catfish I was skinning into the water.

"Was that the head?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I think we need some stink bait. This is going to sound disgusting, but I want you to save all the organs of the fish. I'm going to need those, cheese and a fiber-y plant to make stink bait. Catfish love the stuff, and if we're catching this many catfish with just minnows, which catfish typically don't care for, imagine how many we will catch with actual catfish bait." Annie looked disgusted at the organs I had just pushed aside. I can understand that, though. They were gross. I could tell she didn't want to touch them, but she didn't want to waste resources by asking us to import stink bait.

"I can make the stink bait, Annie, if you want." Frankly, I didn't want to touch the stuff either, but I wasn't turning slightly pale by looking at the organs.

"Are you sure?" It was nice of her to ask.

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't. Go see if they gave us any gallon sized zip locks in the kitchen. We can put all the fillets in one bag and all the organs in the other, and freeze them." I allowed myself a small chuckle, imagining someone coming across a bag of frozen fish guts.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked.

"What if someone was looking for ice cream, or something, and came across a bag of fish guts?" Annie joined me in laughing.

"That's disgusting, Finnick!" she managed to squeak between bits of laughter. "We need to put the guts in the fridge so we can actually pulverize them without getting bits of frozen fish everywhere. I think putting the fillets in the freezer is a great idea, though." That is how things went with Annie. We sat around the dock just talking, our attention is less on the fish and more on one another. We're just talking. After the sixth fish gets away, we pull in our rods and go over to the outdoor fireplace. I start a fire and we just sit there. I'm lounging on a chair and Annie is stretched out on the outdoor couch.

"Annie?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"Is this how every night is going to be?" I sounded like a kid, but I didn't care. Everything was just perfectly peaceful at the moment. I wanted it to stay that way.

"I hope so," she said.

We decided to call it a night at two in the morning. There were two bedrooms open, the smallest bedroom, which contained two twin sized beds, and the largest bedroom, the sunroom bedroom, with the three beds. I insisted Annie took the larger room since it was the more feminine room of the two. "Are you sure?" she asked for the third time.

"Yes Annie! Don't worry about me. It's all good." I paused. I was standing at the door of her bedroom, my room just two feet away. There was this magic spell cast over us, like the end of a date or something, even though we were both aware that wasn't the case. "Well, goodnight."

She nodded. "Goodnight."

She closed the door and I went to my bedroom and closed my door and fell onto the bed furthest away from the door, next to the window. Annie. How was it we connected so fast? I've never connected with a girl that fast. We've known one another maybe two days and already it's like I've known her all my life. After about two minutes of my lying there staring at the ceiling, my hands behind my head, I hear a knock on the door. I get up and Annie is standing there in a too large t-shirt and a pair of short pajama shorts. "I'm sorry," she says.

I give her a smile. "I wasn't asleep yet. No worries. What's up?"

She looks at her feet and bites her bottom lip nervously. "I, uh, cannot figure out how to work the air conditioner in my bedroom. It isn't connected to the rest of the house."

I got out of bed and walked three steps across the room and two steps into her room. The first thing I saw was an ancient air conditioner. I powered it up, but still found myself hesitant to leave, so I let myself fall onto the closest bed. She gave a look and tucked a strand of messy brown hair behind her ear. "Are you planning on staying here for the night?"

I shrugged. "Why not? I mean, its not like anyone is going to stop me. We're on our own now, Annie and right now, if things keep going the way I feel like they are going to go, then I plan on falling in love with you."

She looked taken aback, but responded to my bold statement. "You plan on falling in love with me?"

I nodded. "Annie, I am going to prove myself to be the best boy on this island for you. Just you wait. Who else would I fall in love with? Johanna? Katniss?" She shakes her head and a tiny frown plays on her lips. I've obviously said something wrong. She makes her way to the farthest bed, the one perched next to a window on the far right side of the room, and looks at her phone. "What's wrong?"

"I mean, you wouldn't choose me if you had an infinite amount of girls to choose from. It's a choice between three. We had a fun night and now you have decided I was the best one here. It just makes me think that a better option for you is somewhere else in the world, but you are just settling for me because you have to. I don't want that, Finnick." This answer she gives me breaks me, but I don't let her see that. Instead, I climb over to her bed and go sit beside her.

"Annie, do you believe in fate? In destiny?" I ask her.

She looks up at me. "I've alway believed that. I have gone to church most Sunday's since I was a little girl. It always said God had a plan for us."

I didn't go to church that often. My parents stopped taking me when Eloise and Daisy were born. We showed up on Easter, like everyone else, and called it good for another year. Still, I knew what she was talking about.

"Well, if you think God has a plan, then he obviously put the two of us here, _together, _for a reason."

Her frown came up into another smile, and she put her head on her pillow. "Why don't we have a sleepover in my room tonight, Finn? It would be fun, don't you think?"

I got into the middle bed and got underneath the covers. "Yeah, I think it will be." '_Annie,' _I started to say to myself in my head, _'I plan on falling in love with you. I don't know when or how, but I know I will, and it'll be fantastic.'_

* * *

**Kinda a slow start, sorry, but we're getting to the fun parts! Hang in there! This was only chapter 2! :) The "Yellow Light Game" pulled over without an article of clothing... true story. I was in the backseat without a shirt (looking up Ninja Turtles...?) and we get pulled over and my friend and I had to scramble for clothes! Well, anyway, please leave a review and tell me what y'all think! I'll get the third chapter out soon (seeing as it is the last of my already completed chapters) and hopefully y'all will favorite/follow/love me/review...? Maybe...?**

**Thanks to my 6 faves and 14 followers! You are all the loves of my life! :D **

**-Juliet**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I'm super psyced to have this many reviews already! You are all too sweet! (I'm really proud of this story as well...) Senior year started and I know someone in every single class. I only have two real classes, which are English and Government, so fingers crossed I can update frequently! **

_Everlarkmakorraforever: I'm glad you like it! I am planning on doing this story primarily from Finnick's POV, maybe a few others sprinkled throughout, but this is primarily an Odesta horror story. :) I'll make sure there is some Everlark in there though!_

_CusCus81: They are so sweet (just like you!) I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations! :D _

_ .mar.83: Super glad you like it! (Starts singing the Lion King song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight") _

_LivLuvHG7273: You are so sweet! I'm super glad you are enjoying it! :D_

_Angelfire: I'm super glad you are enjoying it! I love writing it! I don't know where the airplane scene came from... __tbch..._

_Guest: As much as I love Peeta, this is primarily an Odesta horror story. I'm going to be sure to include as much Everlark as I can, though. I'm glad you are enjoying it! _

_MeaganOneDirection: You are seriously too sweet! I'm super glad you are enjoying it! I am glad they aren't just cute in my head, but on paper (screen?) as well! _

_Captain-Sherlock-Who: Are you a Super-Wholock fan? I;m a Super-Who fan and I'm going to eventually get to Sherlock (actually... I'll probably watch the first episode after I finish updating this chapter...) Anywho... Glad you liked it and I'm totally psyched another Whovian is reading this! _

**_Day Thirty-Six: December 7th_**

Having lived on this island for over a month, with no one but one another's company, we figured out everyone's likes and dislikes pretty quickly. We were quickly set off into groups with tolerances. Katniss and Johanna made it apparent what they did and did not tolerate. If they did not like something, it would be very obvious with their response. If they were made mad, they could hold a grudge. We all made a note to not piss them off. Gale and Annie, though relaxed most of the time, would have fits where they would storm off and not reappear for an hour or so. Annie would usually go away and cry, scream or yell at nothing and Gale would go off and throw things until he felt satisfied. They could hold a grudge for an hour, maybe two if they were really upset, but after they had something to eat and drink, they would be back to their old selves. Peeta and myself on the other hand, were impossible to make angry. If anything happened, we could both blow it off.

It was also here we learned who was most willing to help out and who was actually the most useful. Annie and Peeta were always among the first to volunteer to do things, but often they were incompetent at the skill in question. We would teach them, but they both still needed to go over the skill three or four times until they got it right. Katniss and I, though not always first to volunteer, would find ourselves doing most things. We weren't the most skilled, but we could figure things out for ourselves. Johanna and Gale were the real geniuses and both of them were last to offer their services. When all else failed, we called them. The problem was fixed in no time.

In this time we also learned all the things we depended on most desperately to survive. It was not the common things, like eating, sleeping or cooking, but the things that made up our soul. Katniss depended on the solitude hunting gave her. She would sneak off in the early morning and by the time breakfast was done, she would be back, some tropical bird or small mammal stuffed into a game bag. One time, she had to recruit Gale and me to come grab a large jungle cat of some sort she had killed. "It was following me around, so I had to shoot it. Shame too; he was great company."

"So you really are, catnip, huh Catnip?" Gale had teased her. She rolled her eyes and had us carry it back for her. She said she didn't have Peeta come because he would scare all the game away, and she didn't want to distract him from cooking and baking.

Cooking and baking is what defined Peeta. While he baked, he would turn on a television show on netflix or read the medical textbook he was given. Still, the guy managed to stay in shape. After he baked a cake he would go out running around the island, thinking of new recipes to try. "Finnick, what is the last tropical fish you caught?" he asked after one particularly long run.

"Why?" Annie and I sometimes went down to the shore and caught saltwater fish from the ocean instead of the usual freshwater fish we would catch at the lake.

"I was walking and I just saw these coconuts. I'm going to go back and grab them tomorrow so I use them to cook. I just need to know what kind of fish so I know how to make it!" Though Peeta was quite calm, I could picture a little Peeta inside him, going crazy and foaming at the mouth just so he could make another great meal.

"Well, we have a good amount of Yellow Spot Travally, I think. Annie caught a couple of Barracuda on her line that I ended up having to spear with the trident, so we have those. I think we also may have caught enough Menpachi for us to eat, but those are pretty little. Really good eats, though. We are planning on going out tomorrow on an Hawaiian Bigeye expedition. Annie thinks she has the bait just right for them." The waters here were undisturbed and great for fishing. The reef was full of large fish that had never seen a fishing pole or a trident before in their lives.

My passion was spearfishing. I had a trident I used and I caught several fish using it. I had learned the names of all these different fish when I was a kid. When Annie reeled one up, I would look at it. "That's a Hawaiian Hogfish!" I would tell her. "They taste great but could give one food poisoning. Put it in the cooler. We'll have Peeta decide what to do with it," or it would be "Annie, that's a Stonefish! Those are poisonous!" I would then cut the line as close as I could to the fish's mouth as I dared to get. Being stung by one of those causes extreme pain and can be fatal. Here it is likely to be fatal.

When we came across fish I didn't know, we would release them after marveling at them. When we got back to the house, two coolers full of tropical fish, usually, I would look up the type of fish we saw on my phone. Annie would write down a small description on a legal pad. One time Peeta asked us if he could make a small picture book for us with pictures of the different types of fish and captions with their names (official names and what we thought they really should be called) as well as how good they were for cooking and whether they were poisonous or not. We agreed, not expecting much, but after a couple of days he came back with a binder filled with amazing artist renderings of the fish. Who knew Peeta was an artist?

When we would go to the ocean, Annie would always take the binder, a legal pad and pen, and a book of her own. Annie was always reading. The genre didn't matter at all, as long as it was a fictional book. Harry Potter, The Fault in our Stars, The Giver Saga, everything was read by her. She would try to start these discussions about the books with us, but realized none of us had read the books. She would then attempt to explain the context of everything, but she would always leave out some crucial detail in her emotional monologue about what event had just occurred in the story.

If she wasn't sticking her nose into a physical book, she was reading one online, or she was writing one in the back pages of a legal pad, past all of the scribblings of fish. Annie's penmanship could only be described as Walt Disney cursive font. The words were bubbly, though difficult to read, but her i's were dotted the exact same way his were. I asked her if I could read her writing, though, and she blushed and declined. "Not yet," she always said. "Just wait until I am done." I'm still waiting. Her story is still not done. All else failed, she was watching Netflix. Her favorite show was currently Supernatural and I would find myself sitting beside her, enjoying her reactions to each of the different monsters, demons and ghosts.

Johanna battled boredom with Gale. The two decided they would do whatever with one another, very similar to Annie and myself. The two found themselves passionless, which made everything their passion. Sometimes they would tag along and fish with Annie and myself and other times they would stay behind and watch Netflix horror movies and pretend to bake with Peeta. One time they disappeared for an entire day while Annie and I were fishing on the lake. They returned with burnt clothes, mud in their hair, and Gale was missing a shoe. "Don't ask," he said when he saw the strange looks everyone was giving them.

Johanna's response, when we didn't look away, was "Fuck off!" Katniss rolled her eyes and picked up one of the books Annie recommended. Annie and I went onto the dock and started fishing again, pulling up nothing but miniature perch. Johanna managed to get her work done, though. She would come back from every adventure with a new type of plant or a bundle of some type of fruit.

Nights had slowly changed as well. By the end of the first twenty days, we were coupled off, though no one was officially dating. Peeta would try to impress Katniss with her favorite cheese buns for breakfast every morning and she would return this with smiles and little amounts of blushing, though I doubt she was aware of the fact she blushed when she talked to him. Johanna and Gale have spent most days together doing who knows what who knows where. Annie and I have been together since the first day and I still find myself determined to make her fall in love with me. Throughout the entire process, though, I find myself falling harder for her. Nights had changed because we slowly went from occupying all six rooms to only occupying three. Downstairs, Katniss and Peeta found themselves sharing the master bedroom. Upstairs Johanna and Gale shared one of the two rooms that contained queen sized beds, the green one. Annie and I still shared the room we slept together in the first night. The difference was now the air conditioner worked and the room would get incredibly cold. Annie and I shared the middle bed, since it was queen sized, unlike the other two which we both twin sized. We would sleep with my arms wrapped around her and double blankets. She would still wake up cold. I would still wake up captivated by her.

It was 10:39 when she woke up. I had been awake a little longer, but I hadn't gotten up in fear of disturbing her. "How long have you been awake?" she yawned.

I shrugged. "Not very long. I didn't want to disturb you."

"I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, Finn. If I didn't want to wake up, I wouldn't have gotten up," she said. She sat up and brushed through her hair with her fingers, correcting her bangs that were sticking up with bed head. After that, she got out of bed, grabbing a shirt and shorts that had been provided for her by the people of Project Colonization. "Were you still planning on fishing today?" she asked. Annie was a master of changing without showing. She wore a pink night gown with little black flowers to bed so when morning came, she could put on a pair of shorts without me seeing her underwear. She also always managed to get a bra on without ever taking off her gown. She was comfortable without wearing a shirt simply because it was "like a bikini top," not because she was exactly comfortable in her body. She always felt like she was never going to have the right body, since she hated exercise and loved sweets, but I thought she had a really cute figure. Either way, after about two weeks of us sharing a room, she felt comfortable enough to change in front of me.

"I was assuming that we would." I watched Annie's back. She thought turning her back was enough to stop me from looking. It would take more than that for me to tear my gaze away from her.

"Actually, I can't. I promised to help out Peeta with Gale's birthday cake. Apparently I am the only other person in the house who is competent in the kitchen, no offense." Gale's birthday was today. Shit. A full week of planning and I'm so easily able to forget it just by looking at Annie.

"None taken," I say when I remember what Annie had said. It was true. Katniss, Gale, Johanna or myself would probably blow the kitchen up. Still, it was depressing to know I would have to spend the day without Annie. "I'll get the fish myself. No need to worry."

She turned around and looked at me with remorseful eyes. "I'm sorry, Finn."

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I promise."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah! It's all good, Annie."

We made our way down the stairs. Peeta had made an exceptional breakfast to celebrate Gale's nineteenth birthday, putting him ahead of all of us. With Christmas coming up later in the month, he insisted we do nothing to celebrate. Katniss had no objection to that statement, but the rest of us did. We planned everything out behind his back. Peeta was in charge of the cake, recruiting Annie to help make a fantastic dinner, Katniss was going to hunt for a particularly good animal for us to feast on tonight and Johanna was going to take Gale exploring, like they usually do, so everyone could set up. I was going to fish so we could continue to have exports for Project Colonization.

We had determined earlier in the month that our main exports would be game, fruit and fish. Maybe eventually we could export lumber, seeing as we had an abundance of trees, but we currently didn't have any means of cutting them down. We planned on trading our goods for American currency and would save up what we make until we agree on investments. Fish. My job for the day.

I go to the lake and take out the boat, driving to a new fishing spot Annie and I have yet to try out. It looks positive. There was a shore nearby where fish could eat falling vegetation and bugs, but it was far enough away so larger fish would be swimming in the depths. Sure enough, it isn't long before I have the cooler filled with bass. I leave my line unattended, leftover bait on the hook, so I don't have to focus. I can just think about how I can make her fall for me.

I bring the boat in an hour later, so I have enough time to skin and freeze the fish. I determine we need a more effective way to mass fish, as well as a boat for the ocean so we can go into deeper waters to collect fish. The river is too shallow to take the boat down and the SeaDoo's wouldn't be able to hold fish. I park the boat and se Katniss on the opposite end of the dock, standing where I usually skin the fish. At her feet is what looks like a pig and an anteater had a baby. She is standing on a plastic chair, trying to attach a rope to one of the metal bars that hold up the dock's roof. "Need help?"

She turns and looks at me before throwing me the rope. "I need to skin the damn thing and I can't get it up there. Even then, I can't find a hook to suspend it with."

Usually Peeta would help Katniss out with this problem, getting the rope and attaching the hook so she can skin her catches, but he's inside right now, probably covered in flour. I quickly tie a noose at one end of the rope and attach it to the animal's front, stubby legs, before throwing the rope over and tying it to a pole, elevating the anteater pig to a height where Katniss can clean it. "Thanks," she says.

I nod. "No problem." I go and collect my cooler off the boat while Katniss slits the stomach of the animal open, causing blood to spill out onto the deck and into the water. I grab the hose that takes water directly from the lake and use it to clean off the dock.

"So what's up with you and Annie? Are you guys dating yet?" I didn't expect to hear gossip from Katniss. Usually it's Jo who wants to know everything.

I find myself shaking my head. "Nope. I want to, though. She thinks I only chose her because I have limited options and I just happened to click with her the best." Katniss lets out a a short laugh and I give her an uncharacteristic glare. "What?"

Katniss just rolls her eyes. "You know, the way you look at her, it's like you were meant to be. I don't doubt that you would fall in love with her under different circumstances, Finnick."

I grab the knife I use to skin fish off of the wall, chopping off the silvery head of the fish easily. "I know that, but she doesn't," I say. I throw the head into the water, letting the waves take the head away.

"Prove it to her, Finnick," Katniss says. "She's sweet, but she is also naive and easy to please. Just keep at it, and she will fall for you."

"Thanks, Katniss." We continue in silence, me finishing the fish and her finishing her forest creature.

I take the fillets and put them into the gallon ziplocks we have been using to store the fish. By now we have the entire chest freezer full. When I walk into the living room, I can smell the cake in the air. I make my way over to the sink in the kitchen and scrub my hands, sending the blood, scales and dirt down the sink. Annie makes a face at me. "You should do that in another sink."

I give her a smug, flirtatious look. I know I should have. Peeta and Annie were cooking, using the sink to clean their ingredients and I was making a mess. "Why is that, Annie?"

She rolls her eyes and turns her attention to the television that is playing in the living room. Peeta and Annie were watching Supernatural on Netflix. I snake my arms around Annie's waist and rest my chin on her shoulder. "Supernatural?"

"Mmhmm," she hums. I smile and just stand there, comfortable with the position I was in, until Annie twirls around quickly, escaping my grasp, and putting a glob of white, cream cheese frosting on my mouth, covering my mouth and chin with the sweet substance. She tries to run, but I grab her wrist and pull her close to me.

"Not so fast," I lean my head down and give her a kiss on the lips in attempt to get as much frosting on her as I can. It doesn't register that was our first kiss until I pull away. She looks stunned.

"Should I leave, or...?" I forgot Peeta was there.

I shake my head. "No, I'm about to go shower," I say, walking away as normally as I can manage.

I go upstairs and take off my shirt, leaving it on the floor beside the door to the bedroom Annie and I share. I grab a change of clothes before grabbing one of the fluffy blue towels and lose myself in the hot spray of the shower. I just kissed Annie. I kissed Annie. I didn't look at her face to see what she had thought of the kiss. I bolted.

No one comes looking for me when I'm still gone an hour later. My showers are never longer than ten minutes and getting dressed never takes more than two. Annie is probably pissed and Peeta is probably talking to her. I can see that Katniss is cutting the animal into steaks on the dock, having finished skinning and gutting the beast. The guts lay in a pile on the edge of the dock, and the pelt is hanging on a tree limb. Katniss had the smart idea to keep every pelt she skins. We could sell exotic pelts for a good price. I see Johanna and Gale are coming back from their expedition. Katniss points to the grill and Gale walks over to start it up. He's probably cooking his own birthday steak. I jump when I hear a knock on the door. "Umm, come in." I see Annie looking at me when the door opens. She looks shy and kind of uncomfortable. I don't blame her. "Hey, Annie."

"Hey," she says, voice quiet. "I, um, we need to talk."

I swallow. Here it comes. "Alright," I say. I probably just screwed things up with her. I'll have to win her heart again, or end up with Johanna or Katniss. The idea of Annie ending up with someone who isn't me makes me kind of sick.

"Finnick, I like you, a lot," she says before taking a nervous breath, "but I don't know why anyone would fall for me. I'm just afraid you will wake up and see clearly one day, wondering how you ever even found me even remotely attractive. I'm awkward, obsessive and cannot get myself to focus on what's important. Why would you want someone like that?"

I give her a smile and lead her over to the smaller of the two couches that are in our bedroom. I take a seat and pat the cushion beside me. She sits, but leans against the arm of the couch, making as much room between us as she can. "Annie, you can't see it, I know, but you are beautiful, kind and unpredictable. Annie, I love it when you tell us about your books. You become so wrapped up in them it doesn't matter what else is important. What is important is what is happening in those books, or on that television show, or what happened out on the boat. What you call awkward I think is an adorable quirk. You like filling in silence, and I like that. I will never wake up, either, and think you are unattractive. I will never regret us trying to be together, because I know we would have tried. I cannot see myself with anyone but you, Annie."

She looks like she wants to smile, but is still unconfident with herself. "What if you had one hundred girls to choose from? All prettier and smarter and, I don't know, just better than me?"

I shake my head. "Not possible." We sit there in silence for a couple of minutes before I start to speak again. "Annie, tomorrow night, do you want to go out on a date with me?"

She pretends to contemplate the answer, as if she is weighing her options, before she finally answers. "Of course." I am about to burst with joy when she opens her mouth again. "Keep me on my toes, Odair. If you want me to fall in love with you, you are going to be at least half as good as the guys in my books."

**Well I would like to give a shout out to the 6 people who added this story to their favorites and the 19 people who are following! You are all beautiful, beautiful people! Please leave a review expressing your thoughts! I cannot improve unless someone tells me where I am screwing up! :) Please follow or add this story to y'all's favorites as well! Surely you'll all want to know how the story ends... right?**

**Hugs and Kisses**

**-Juliet**


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